Thank you to all who have followed, favorited, messaged me or reviewed, I appreciate the feedback. The good news is that the story is all but written, just the last chapter to go. I'm still editing, proofing and such. The whole thing will be posted by the end of the week, hopefully sooner. Now back to our story.
Where we left off
She started to walk away but stopped and looked Castle in the eye. "Oh, and one more thing, Richard," accentuating the use of his full name, "don't ever mention that bitch you knocked up or her alter ego, Nikki Heat, again. You will forget you ever knew her or the bastard she's carrying, or I'll remove them from the story, permanently."
Castle waited until the door closed at the top of the stairs before he fell to his knees, holding his head in his hands he was helpless to stop the tears that began flowing.
Kate, he thought, help me! Please, help me!
RCKBRCKBRCKB
Castle remained on his knees for just a few moments. He took a deep breath as he got back to his feet; he hadn't spent the last six years with Kate Beckett to give up so easily.
First things first, take care of his needs. Washing his hands after using the bathroom, he checked to see what was in the refrigerator. Water and juice made up the bulk of the contents along with condiments for various meals. No real food but there was creamer for coffee. Castle quickly downed a bottle of water to stave off the beginnings of dehydration and set himself to making a cup of coffee with the small Keurig that sat on the counter next to the refrigerator. He was still hungry, but wasn't sure his stomach could handle food right now.
With his immediate concerns taken care of, Castle decided to inspect his new residence. The entire area was a decent size, about 35 feet from end to end and 20 feet front to back. The back and sides were made up of the cinder block of the basement wall. The front was a steel enforced mesh that was anchored the ceiling, floor and sides. The door was equally as sturdy as the wall; there would be no easy escape. The basement's windows were located just outside the grated area and they were completely covered.
The only adornments in the "room" were a few pictures on the wall that he had previously ignored. Stepping closer to get a better look he realized that the pictures were of him and his abductor. There were four different shots, each apparently taken on a different day, each at what looked like a book signing or meet and greet. In all but one of the pictures, Beth was holding a Derrick Storm book; the most recent was a Heat Wave event. She had been stalking him for a number of years and, apparently, her hatred for Nikki Heat didn't stop her from buying the book.
Walking over to the desk, Castle saw a small laptop. Hoping against hope he booted the computer up only to find that the only program on it was word processing. Guess she wants me to be able to do some writing. He didn't think she'd be careless enough to give him internet access but he had to check. He closed the laptop and left that for another time.
Heading over to the full sized bed, Castle laid down to do some stretching exercises. His back was an off and on again problem but the tension of last night, coupled with the fact that he couldn't move, had sent spasms from his lower back to his shoulder blades and he needed to stretch out those muscles before the discomfort became pain.
Hearing the door open at the top of the stairs, he quickly got to his feet. Beth walked down the stairs carrying a tray. "I brought you breakfast, I thought you might be hungry."
Castle was torn between ignoring the woman, haranguing with her, or playing along with her fantasy. Choosing option number three, he plastered his best "playboy Castle" smile on his face as she approached.
"Breakfast, that's great," he swarmed, "I'm starving."
Beth beamed at his response, wordlessly sliding the tray through the small opening under the door.
Settling down on the lone chair located outside the gate, she pulled out a copy of Storm's Last Stand. The book was a paperback, dog-eared and obviously well used. "Enjoy the food while I enjoy the book...again."
Castle picked up the tray, removing the lid his stomach growled at the wonderful smell. He tentatively tasted a strip of bacon before he dug in without further hesitation. Beth smiled, obviously pleased that he enjoyed her cooking.
"This is really good," Castle wasn't lying; the food tasted delicious although it could have been a product of his hunger speaking, "thank you."
"Rick, you know how I love to cook." She put the book down and came closer to the gate. "I will make all of your favorites for you. I just want to make you happy."
Castle bit back the retort that he would be happy with his wife, not some psycho with a gun. Instead he just smiled and finished eating. Placing the tray back under the gate Castle stepped back allowing Beth to pick it up. He didn't want to seem threatening to her. Gaining her confidence and getting her to drop her guard and trust him still seemed to be his best tactic.
Gathering up the tray and her book, Beth returned back up the stairs. "I'll be back later, Honey."
RCKBRCKBRCKB
Kate Beckett splashed cold water on her face, trying to regain some sense of equilibrium. It had been nearly 12 hours since she realized that her husband had not come home. Six hours since his car had been discovered and two since her team had finished a conference call with state police looking into Castle's disappearance.
So far they had nothing.
The last anyone had seen Castle was when he was leaving the parking garage. A search of local hospitals, hotels and B&B's had turned up nothing. Schenectady police had requested a copy of the hotel's registry, the paid guests at the convention and a copy of any and all surveillance video. They were shorthanded and because of the snow were dealing with several more critical emergencies. Travel conditions were still bad and Captain Gates could not authorize sending any of her people out in such bad conditions when they still had no conclusive evidence that anything was actually wrong. All of this resulted in a lot of potential evidence sitting in boxes waiting for someone to take a look at it.
"Beckett," Kate had not even heard the bathroom door open and was startled to see Captain Gates standing behind her, "it's getting late, and you've been here all day. We won't hear anything until morning." Kate started to protest but was stopped by a raised hand, "I've already ordered Esposito and Ryan to go home and I'm doing the same with you. You can't do anything here and you need to rest. Besides, wouldn't it be better to talk to Castle's mom and daughter face to face rather than call them?"
Martha! Alexis! Kate had not thought of them since earlier today when she told them the half-truth that Rick had been delayed by the snow. They needed to know.
"Go home, detective. Take care of yourself and your family. With luck the roads will be clear by morning and we can hit this from different angles."
With a quiet nod of acknowledgement, Kate dried her hands and face, strode out to her desk and gathered her belongings. Letting her hand linger for a moment on the chair next to her desk, she headed for the elevators. She needed to talk to Martha and Alexis and she needed to eat some real food and get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day.
RCKBRCKBRCKB
Martha and Alexis had taken the news about as well as Kate had imagined. They were worried but confident in Castle's ability to deal with whatever situation he was in and in Kate's tenacity to solve any mystery. All three women were sure the man they called Richard, Rick or dad would be home by tomorrow.
Despite her exhaustion, Kate laid awake in the large bed alone once again staring at the ceiling. She longed to fall asleep with her husband's strong arms around her, lay against him and show him how much she loved him. Instead her tears were the only company she had on this night.
RCKBRCKBRCKB
A hundred miles away, Castle also lay alone in bed. The day had been quiet. Beth had not bothered him at all, coming down only to bring lunch, dinner and some snack foods. Each meal was the same; Beth would sit and read while Castle ate, then quietly head up the stairs locking the door behind her. The food was decent although without the hunger of morning, he noticed that there was a bit of strange aftertaste to some of it.
In between her visits he spent his time inspecting every corner of this prison, for it was a prison, and trying to exercise and stretch for the time when he would see an opportunity to escape.
Now that evening had come Castle struggled to control his emotions. Alone in the bed, lying in the dark, he yearned to pull Kate against him, rub his hands down her arms, kiss her soft lips and place his hand on her still flat stomach where their child was growing. Turning on his side, he once again fought the tears that crept at the sides of his eyes. He refused to give them purchase and eventually fell asleep hugging a spare pillow to his chest, dreaming of the day when it would be Kate he held.
RCKBRCKBRCKB
Through the monitor in her room, Beth watched the close circuit feed from the basement. Rick had yet to discover the small camera mounted in the wall of the staircase. It gave her a view of the entire basement and she had spent the day watching Rick's every move. She had spent a small fortune purchasing all of the equipment and getting it installed over the past two months. Ever since she discovered that Rick would be at the convention she had planned out their reunion.
He enjoyed the food she made for him, never even tasted the small amount of drugs she had added. She didn't want to drug him. She hoped he would quickly recognize that they were made for each other. The drugs would make the conversion easier and tomorrow she would begin increasing the dose. He would forget his past. He would admit his love for her. He would be hers, or he would be no ones.
RCKBRCKBRCKB
The next morning saw the team up early and off to two different locations. Kate sat in the unfamiliar place of the passenger seat while Esposito drove the hour and a half to meet with Deputy Collins and go over Castle's car and survey the area where it was found. Kate was quiet during the trip, her gazed fixed out the window at what should have been the beautiful scenery of a snow lined trip. She saw none of it, her inner mind focused instead on the face of her husband, now missing for 36 hours with no hint of what happened to him.
Esposito concentrated on his driving, careful around the areas that appeared to be wet, knowing that with the sub-freezing temperatures those wet spots were actually icy. Esposito carried his concerns with him as well, worried for his missing friend and for the woman who sat beside him.
"Hey," he inquired, "you okay over there? Want to stop and get something to drink?"
"No, Javi," she sighed, "I just want to get there and start doing something. A grown man doesn't just disappear without a trace. He..." The rest of her statement choked off in a sob.
"We'll find him, Kate. You need to believe that." He tried to sound encouraging.
Kate reached over and squeezed his hand, finding some comfort in her friend's support. I need to believe we'll find him.
RCKBRCKBRCKB
Almost two hours after leaving Manhattan, they pulled into one of the deputy offices in Green County to meet with Deputy Collins. The man was about 30 years old, large, about 6 feet tall with a muscular build and close cropped brown hair. He greeted the detectives with a firm handshake and set right to work, showing them what he had. Unfortunately, it was not much. DOT workers had spotted Castles's car during the routine highway clearing of abandoned cars, the keys were in the ignition and the motor was turned to the on position even though the car had run out of gas. The headlights had also been left on although there was still a charge in the battery suggesting that for most of the time the engine had been running.
There was no evidence of any foul play but there was also no clue as to where Castle had gone. Any tire tracks had long been covered with snow. There was a team searching the immediate area but with most of the snow now a frozen solid mass pushed to the side of the road, they would need Mother Nature's cooperation before they could expect to find anything.
Leaving the warmth of the office and heading to the local impound lot; the detectives hoped they would see something in the car those unfamiliar with Castle had missed.
RCKBRCKBRCKB
Less than an hour later, Ryan pulled into a visitor's spot at the Schenectady police station which held their tech lab. Ryan was the most computer savvy of the group and had been the one chosen to go through the security tapes of the hotel hosting the convention. His ride had been as quiet and introspective as Beckett and Esposito's, he also worried for his friend.
It was amazing how the writer had become such an integral member of the team in the six plus years they worked together. At first Castle had been a distraction, a fun guy to be around who was quick with a story or joke and generous with his money. Ryan and Esposito especially loved watching Beckett squirm while Castle needled her.
It didn't take long until they discovered what an investigative asset Castle was as well. Together the four of them became the NYPD's best team with the highest closure rate in the city.
It was a pleasant surprise when Castle and Beckett finally recognized their feelings for each other. The boys had kept their secret for the first year, protecting them from Captain Gates. Once the captain admitted she knew and their engagement became official, the team was able to still work together as a favor from the captain and the police commissioner. Ryan knew their time as a team was coming to an end. Eventually Kate's pregnancy would advance to the point she would be put on desk duty and once the little Castle arrived, his or her father would probably stay home to take care of the child while Kate continued to work. There was also the possibility of Kate becoming a stay-at-home mom. She did not need to work, Castle's millions guaranteed that.
All of that possible future was unimportant at the moment. Finding Castle and returning him to his wife was the top priority right now. Ryan pulled up the first video on the laptop he'd brought and started looking for his friend among the crowd. It was a slow, tedious job but nothing was more important to him now.
RCKBRCKBRCKB
Richard Castle had slept like the dead last night, more tired than he had imagined. It had been a stressful 24 hours but after dinner he had found himself unable to keep his eyes open. He had collapsed on the bed and slept through the night and well into morning waking up with a grumpy stomach. Following a breakfast that tasted good, but had a funny aftertaste, he had again felt woozy. Most of his breakfast hadn't stayed down for long and by mid-morning he lay back on the bed, not having the strength to raise his head.
His captor, Beth, had offered lunch but he had refused, afraid his balky stomach would not keep it down and too weak to go get the tray anyway. By late afternoon he was starting to feel better but when dinner arrived, Castle tasted the same strange aftertaste. He didn't wait for his stomach to rebel; he threw up the small amount of food he had eaten right away.
Beth eyed him wearily. She knew he had tasted the drugs she was placing in the food. She had tried to mask the taste, had success the first day, but he was picking up on the strange taste with each meal. Add to that the fact that the drugs, designed to make him more compliant, were instead making him sick and drowsy. She was not a doctor, she did not know how to administer the correct dosage, and she had shown her hand.
Castle said nothing to her but instead pushed the food away. He would not allow her to continue with this line of attack.
RCKBRCKBRCKB